Permanent War: Longstanding US Policy

By Stephen Lendman - Posted on 06 April 2013

Permanent War: Longstanding US Policy

by Stephen Lendman

Wars define America. They reflect longstanding policy. They're permanent. They've been waged every year in the nation's history. They target enemies at home and abroad. When none exist, they're invented.

Peace is a non-starter. It's always been that way. It never had a chance. It doesn't now. It's systematically spurned.

America's culture reflects belligerence. It's glorified in the name of peace. It's normal and commonplace. Pacifism is considered sissy and unpatriotic. America the Beautiful never existed. It doesn't now.

Peace, human dignity, and democratic values are more illusion than reality. Enormous sums go for militarism and war. Unconscionable amounts are spent today. More on that below.

Vital needs go begging. Things go from bad to worse. Endless wars continue. One leads to others. Ravaging the world one country at a time or in multiples is policy.

Paul Craig Roberts[1] is right. He calls America "a lost land where nuclear weapons are in the hands of those who are concerned only with their own power."

"Washington is the enemy of the entire world and encompasses the largest concentration of evil on the planet." It's systematically destroying it one country at a time.

It's got oceans of blood on its hands. It's responsible for tens of millions of deaths. Its human rights record is by far the world's worst. It's unprincipled. It's unconscionable.

Its rap sheet includes diabolical crimes of war, against humanity and genocide. They persist worldwide. They're largely unreported.

In 2006, Iran was mentioned 16 times. Lies substituted for truth. It said "(w)e may face no greater challenge from a single country than Iran."

Post-9/11, America asserted sole right to use nuclear weapons preemptively. They target nuclear and non-nuclear states. In countries like Iran, they're for fortified sites able to withstand non-nuclear attacks.

America claims the right to do it in retaliation for nuclear, biological or chemical attacks, or in case of unexpected military developments whether or not they're threatening.

Bush and Obama administrations violated 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) provisions. The ABM and Comprehensive Test Ban Treaties are ignored. So are the Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention and Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty. It prohibits additions to current stockpiles.

In 2010, the Obama administration's Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) reiterated earlier policy. It's old wine in new bottles. It remains in force.

It says America "reserves the right" to use nuclear weapons "that may be warranted by the evolution and proliferation of the biological weapons threat and US capacities to counter that threat."

"The new triad (land and sea-based strategic bombers, land-based missiles, and ballistic missile submarines) offers a mix of strategic offensive and defensive capabilities, active and passive defenses, and a robust research development, and industrial infrastructure to develop, build, and maintain offensive forces and defensive systems....it provides additional military options."

So can bunker busters with conventional or nuclear capability. The so-called Mother of All Bombs "massive ordnance penetrator (MOP)" is designed to penetrate up to 200 feet of reinforced concrete. It does so before detonating an enormous explosive blast.

These type weapons threaten humanity. Enough of them can cause nuclear winter. Doing so would block out sun for years. Life on earth would end. The possibility is real. It's chilling.

America used nuclear weapons before. Smart money says they'll be used again. Obama's worse than Bush. He may order the unthinkable. Humanity may not survive his second term.

Washington's wars aren't cheap. Professor Linda Bilmes explained. She teaches budgeting, cost accounting and public finance at Harvard's John F. Kennedy's School of Government. She's a leading expert in her field.

"The legacy of decisions taken during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars will dominate future federal budgets for decades to come."

Other costs include enormous amounts for military equipment replenishment. VA budgets increased from $61.4 billion in 2001 to $140.3 billion currently.

Afghan/Iraq medical care and disability costs so far total $134 billion. An additional longterm $836 billion is needed. It's true for all US wars. After they end, decades of expensive care remain.

It goes mostly for "diseases of the musculoskeletal system (principally joint and back disorders); mental health disorders (including PTSD); central nervous system and endocrine system disorders; as well as respiratory, digestive, skin, and hearing disorders."

Ordinary people are entirely shut out. Western corporate predators take full advantage. War criminals go unpunished. Obama's got more death and destruction in mind. It bears repeating. Humanity may not survive his second term.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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